Sandberg running for first district rep

PEORIA — At-large city councilman Gary Sandberg filed petitions today to run for the first district council seat. He turned in his petitions at 4:59 p.m., just seconds before the deadline.

That means there will be three candidates vying for the first district seat being vacated by incumbent Clyde Gulley: Denise Moore, Randall Emert, and Sandberg. Sandberg recently moved from his home on Bigelow in the second district to an upstairs apartment on Adams Street in the first district.

If Sandberg loses the first district election, he will remain an at-large councilman. There is no requirement that he give up his at-large seat in order to run for a district seat. If he wins the election in April, then he will have to vacate his at-large seat, and the council will vote on a replacement to finish out the final two years of his at-large term.

As mentioned previously, incumbent Clyde Gulley is not running for reelection, but he is running for Township Supervisor against incumbent Joe Whalen. And fourth district councilman Bill Spears is also not running for reelection.

34 comments to Sandberg running for first district rep

While I am glad that 1st District residents will have 3 great candidates to choose from in a primary, it will cost the city extra funds to run a primary for just 1 council district. I wish a 3rd person would have filed for the other district seats.

This is crooked politics at best. Sandberg, who by the way, encourage me to run for 1st District, wants to run. This will most surly bump me in the Primary, and Moore will win because while Sandberg is popular, not so much by the 800 or so that vote in the 1st District. So, Sandberg keeps his seat and the Mayor gets his choice for the first. Pro warehouse district loving Moore. And the spending the council does goes on. Now if Sandberg does win the 1st, then the Mayor appoints and they vote on the seat he vacated. Guess who is on the list? Mrs. Moore. Wow, So Gary is still the lone rain man vote on the council and the only thing accomplished? The Mayor gets rid of me, whom he didn’t want running. Why bother Sandberg? Your vote is the same whether you sit on the At large or on the 1st. I thought you would want another vote your way on the horseshoe? I guess I was wrong.

There are three or four reps running in the 5th district. Interesting turn of events. Unfortunately this would free up a seat on the council and Ardis and company are desperate for yes men votes, they will appoint, most likely Casey as they tried to gerrymander him into the 4th district spot as they knew Spears wasn’t going to run.

and Dennis, really…..let’s discourage even more people from running for office by complaining about the cost of a primary.

I’m not sure what Sandberg’s reasons for running in the 1st are, but he has shown himself to be anything but Ardis’ lackey. I doubt he is part of any mayoral conspiracy to get rid of Emtronics (assuming there is such a movement).

I kind of have my doubts now also. But consider this, say Sandberg wins, which means Mrs Moore could be a top choice for that vacant At Large seat. She is after all great pals with Ardis. So Ardis still has to deal with Sandberg but gets an true yes man (woman in this case) in the end. It’s a win win. If I win, then Sandberg goes back to where he was and I become a vote with him (99% of the time) The Mayor now has a new headache. I know for a fact the good Mayor didn’t like me filing for the seat. This could all work to my advantage though dividing the low voter turn out vote for primaries in the 1st between Moore and Sandberg giving me and edge. See, you can vote for SAME, or SAME, or ME (Different) I somehow feel better about all this.

Maybe I am maybe I’m not Explain? I see this as an opportunity to go head to head with those that want to continue spending on a warehouse district and riverfront after years of spending millions on this riverfront and what do we have? Gateway which is a burden on the taxpayer, a pad that floods and sits 90% empty and a Hooters. In this town it is always start a project, do it, it fails, move on to the next project. Please name one that hasn’t on the Riverfront? The museum is still up in the air but I wonder if that is going to cost the taxpayers in Peoria county for years to come.
“Out there” Your good at blabbing with anonymous posts.

Dennis, I did not misunderstand what you meant. It is tough enough to get decent people to run. It requires money to run, it requires some hard work, and if you disagree with the mayor’s click, they will pull what ever it takes to ensure you don’t get in.

but regardless, it is not a waste of money to spend to have a primary in just one district. It is a waste of money for us to keep funding projects with tax dollars that should be funded by private resources I not only include the hotel, the museum, but a church parking lot as well.

and Emtronics, you can sit on a blog and bitch about your circumstances, but I would expect that time would be better spent knocking on doors in your district to get yourself known. You lack several things which would help you in your race, 1. name recognition, 2. race, 3. you piss off the conservatives. The first district has an extremely low voter turn out. While you may think that #3 is irrelevant, you’ll never get past 1 and/or two without a significant amount of work.

Checking for details: How in the f**k do you know what I have been doing? I can sit on my blog and bitch. It’s a fricking BLOG idiot. That’s what people do on some of them but I am also doing something about the crap I see. What are you doing besides trolling blogs? BTW, it takes no or very little money to run for a council seat. Sandberg won’t spend a dime and short of $80 for signs, neither will I and I doubt Mrs. Moore will either. I don’t have to worry about pissing off conservatives (like conservatives run this county?) because out of the 856 people that vote in the 1st 90% are democrats. Besides, this is a non-partisan election. You know what that term means? It means Republican and Democrats make no difference because you do not declare a party. Now, when you show up and go with me and see where I go and take a ride with the police, then I’ll take your trolling more seriously. Otherwise, you should check your facts.

Really? How do you know someone’s intent just by their actions? It is impossible … you have four different men who drive a Porsche … what is their individual intent? Can you tell just by seeing them drive the Porsche? Probably not … individual intent of the four different men … because * he can afford one * he has always wanted to purchase own one and saved his money over many years * his girlfriend thinks guys who drive Porsches are hot so he bought one * he owns a Porsche dealership and so why would he drive some other brand of vehicle?

Gary is running … so let’s move forward and talk about the issues … and just to let you know from your PJStar post … Gary has driven through the First District many times over the almost 20 years that I have known him … not only driven through but also stopped and helped too. Gary has been our go to council person when our own representative would not respond to our requests for assistance.

Four men … same car … different intent.

It is concerning that you broadbrush Republicans in this case or whatever group of people in another situation … and even if 90% of the First is Democrats … does that mean that you will not be willing to equally represent conservatives even if they happen to be ‘R’s? Just askin’ as a First District Resident what type of representation you are offering?

Karrie sez: “Really? How do you know someone’s intent just by their actions?”
Same way “checking for details” knows what my actions are or aren’t.

I hope Gary is true to form and deep inside I think he is but this is election season in Peoria. So one has to go with it. If Gary was really true, why couldn’t he do what he wants to do from his current seat. It seems At Large seats have a little more power than a regular district seat don’t they. And, his vote would be no different than his At Large vote. 1=1 Unless, they was a hidden motive. Win his !st District seat and the Mayor and council vote on a replacement for his vacant seat. Maybe someone who also sees stars in the warehouse district?????

And yes he has. he has several property’s in the 1st including a dumpy looking warehouse type building on Lincoln. I paint Republicans with a broad brush because Republicans paint with a broad brush. Do you cheer for anyone else?

You have outlined quite well how you will lose, you don’t understand the politics of Peoria, nor are willing to take what was some rather good advice. Additionally, we need even tempered people on the council, you’re not doing well there either. finally, At larges do not have more power. Generally they defer to the district rep and count on them doing the research and being informed on events in their district. You blame Romney for the 47% remarks, Mr. kettle.

I fully understand Peoria politics. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon and you don’t know me at all. So you have no idea what I am like, what I have done or how I have raised my family or my accomplishments with my job. You know nothing. Other than I tend to vote Democratic in major elections thus I am liberal but I am not a far left liberal. I think the poor and un-employed need the government safety nets because we (well maybe not you) walk a fine line from making it to needing help. I think healthcare for everyone that is affordable is a must because no body should lose their home due to an illness and yet it happens all the time. I do not like the fact that people can make a career out of welfare and I think reforms are in order to prevent this. The fact that welfare is so readily available makes it easy and without and consequences for young high school girls to get pregnant. If they had to pay the bill and be held responsible, then I think maybe many young girls, with education, would consider a different path. I don’t like abortion but believe it has to be the law of the land for many reasons, convenience is not one of them.
As for my council run, I think and truly believe the city has to run it’s finances the way many of us run our households. There has to be priorities. You can’t get development and businesses to come and people to live here buy building things and hope they come. You must generate a climate of safety, well maintain city services which include streets and fire. The schools have to have a good reputation. People leave this town because of crime and lack of services not because of taxes. Econmyies are built on working people spending money, not on the rich getting tax cuts and creating jobs. If people have money to spend on big items, jobs will be created and businesses will grow. I can go out and buy a new BMW today, but that would put my home finances in jeopardy and mean cut backs on improvements to my house and the services I use but damnit I would have a new Beemer. The city has been doing this for years and then relying on the future public and taxpayers to pay the bill. If the project succeeds, then we get lucky and our money back, if it fails, like Mid-Town plaza or Lord forbid the museum, the taxpayer pay. The city’s track record on this is not great. The baseball field comes to mind. This city spent $3 million on moving a street and $5 million to settle a law suit with a dry cleaner. What have we got? A private owned baseball field where the owners want a property tax break and a strip club. I think the working people, especially in my district don’t give a rat’s ass about the museum, the warehouse district, riverfront, or Civic Center. They do care about their children’s safety, education, their property values, and if the house catches fire, the fire department comes. They want the streets cleared if ti snows so they can get to work, they want the police to come if they call them. It’s called quality of life issues and they have been basically ignored or in the case of “Don’t Shoot”, candy coated and at election time. I fully understand backdoor meeting. They happen. The hotel project is one of them. The fact that many of our elected leaders think we the people are too damn dumb or too busy to understand and we should just let them take care of business. I think that time should be over. That’s how I see things

I’m a Sandberg fan BUT the more I read about his 1st district bid the more it smells. Why??? This doesn’t make sense. The subterfuge (my opinion) he’s using to legitimize running in the 1st is beneath him. I’m ashamed of you, Gary.

It’s an open seat. It’s the Peoples seat. Anyone can run for it. No one is entitled to it. Emert says one of the reasons he’s running is to put an end to the back-door dealing yet he wants some back-door dealing of his own to win the seat. Typical Lib hypocrisy. He didn’t have a chance before Sandberg. He doesn’t have a chance after Sandberg. Soon he will return to being the old and angry white male he vilifies on blog.

What back door dealing do I want? Typical Right bullshit. I do have a chance with Sandberg. A better one since he came forward. I welcome all comers and have never said different. People of the first aren’t dumb. They may not buy into the savior Sandberg riding in to save them from themselves. And in fact many people may resent it. I’ll wait and see, mean while idiots such as yourself “Calling bull****” can continue to troll and express your self centered useless and incorrect opinions.

BTW, take a drive trough the first district. How much of that warehouse money do you suppose is going to repair and update many streets west of Western avenue. How much funds or how many projects are going towards the improvement of quality life issues for the hard working residents trying to make a decent home in the 1st? NONE. Especially if Sandberg gets in. It’ll be warehouse all the way and sadly, there is more to the first district than the warehouse area. Happily, only residents of the 1st may vote, not businesses concerns in the warehouse district.

Emtronics, besides the Warehouse issue, would you look at or support a new TiF district that goes from MacArthur Highway to just the other side of Western?

After all, TiFs were originally created to help improve, redevelop blighted areas, and we know how many parts of the South End are blighted, versus other areas that have TiFs, but never seemed as blighted. Just a question.

Western Avenue itself is in an enterprise zone… but the businesses alongside it are not. It’s a little bit of gerrymandering to get the old Jumer’s hotel into the Enterprise Zone.

Technically, Peoria only has a single Enterprise Zone. The state is limited to 95 EZs statewide, so with some creative map drawing, everything is linked together. Zoom in a bit and you can see how the zone extends down the centerline of several major streets without including the properties on either side (check out Forrest Hill).